There goes my life again
by rayv19
Summary: Alex and Jack go to San Francisco to spend spring break with the Pleasures. About halfway through he meets a girl with wings! Now he and Max embark on a journey to save the world and the flock.
1. Chapter 1

**_There goes my life…again._**

_Disclaimer: I do not own either Alex Rider or Maximum Ride; all characters from those books belong to whomever they belong to._

_**So this is my first fan fic. Hope you like it.**_

_Chapter 1:_

_The first few days were perfect…_

"Alex!" The call came from the crowd of people who had come to welcome their family and friends as they poured out of the San Franciscan airport terminal. The distinct English accent from amid the mob of Americans told him exactly who waited for him. Sabina Pleasure stood waving excitedly at him from the edge of the group. Alex turned to make sure Jack Starbright, his housekeeper, legal guardian, and best friend, was keeping up with him and when he saw that she was, he gripped tightly to his rolling suitcase and carry-on bag and started walking just a bit faster toward Sabina.

He hadn't seen her since the previous New Year which had ended with them climbing out of a Scottish Loch.

"How was your flight? Nothing went wrong I hope?" The inflection in Sabina's voice suggested that she really wanted to know if MI6 had contacted him or if any of his natural tendencies to attract trouble had affected his life at all since their last meeting.

"Everything was perfect."

Sabina's father, Edward Pleasure, popped up behind her. "Hello, Alex. Everything went smoothly?" Alex nodded and Mr. Pleasure continued, "Good, good. We'd better be on our way. Let me help you with that Jack." He gestured to her numerous bags and she gratefully handed a couple over.

They headed to the parking lot ducking and dodging the international stew of people that was the airport.

"I'm so glad you could make it Alex." Sabina said as they all climbed into Mr. Pleasure's SUV. "How was your birthday?"

"Surprisingly uneventful actually. In a good way," he added hastily as Jack gave him a look. "Jack got me the game I'd been wanting and we had a small party." As he spoke Sabina reached behind her seat and pulled out a small neatly wrapped package.

"I didn't know what you'd want so I just guessed. Hope you like it." She handed the present over and Alex carefully unwrapped it. He tugged the paper off uncovering an ordinary enough looking wrist watch. "It's water-proof up to a hundred feet. I thought it might help if you ever ended up in another situation like last time."

"I absolutely love it! It's perfect." He took the packaging off, set it and put it on.

They chatted about life and school all the way to her house. Sabina and her parents lived in a nondescript two story duplex a few miles in from the ocean.

They were greeted warmly by Mrs. Pleasure at the door and shown in.

"We only have one guest room so we thought it best to put Alex on the couch, and have Jack in the guest room." Mrs. Pleasure explained apologetically.

"Its fine, I've slept in worse places." Alex said with a bit of a sardonic inflection.

Once they were settled it was already 7 o'clock and Mrs. Pleasure had dinner ready so they all sat at the table and ate the delicious pasta dinner and then the incredibly jet-lagged guests gratefully went to bed.

The next couple of days were near perfect with visits to the beach, rides on trolleys, and just spending time with the people he cared most about in the world. Just like a normal kid's life should be.

That is, until his perfect spring break comes crashing down around him on the third day.

Of course.

He and Sabina had gone to the beach for a typical laying in the sand reading, splashing in the water, and sand castle building time when he noticed something in the sky. At first he just dismissed it for a bird, but then he realized that it was way too big to be a bird. No one else seemed to notice it so he pretended that he hadn't either.

It wasn't until he glanced again that he noticed that whatever it was, its flying was choppy and ragged, as if it were injured. He watched as it banked towards a place a few miles up the beach that was generally secluded due to its strange affinity for attracting jellyfish.

"What are looking at?" Sabina asked. Alex looked up at her. He had to admit, she made a stunning image at the beach. Her long dark hair glistened with natural highlights brought out by the sun; her eyes were the same deep blue as the water behind her, and the hot magenta bikini she was wearing didn't hurt either.

"Just the clouds," he didn't know why he felt the urge to lie about the strange flying thing, but he had learned a while ago to trust his gut.

"Hey, I have to go the restroom. Will you wait here for a bit?"

"Sure." She sounded surprised. He got up and headed towards the restrooms. Once he was out of sight he changed directions and headed towards the beach that he had seen the thing land on. As he walked he tried to contemplate what it might have been, but just kept drawing up a blank.

When he reached the beach he scanned the immediate vicinity for anything unusual but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. He walked slowly down the beach taking in every detail around him.

He was about halfway down the beach when he saw a flicker of movement from behind a large rock. He tensed up ready for a fight just in case. He walked cautiously to the rock, one step…two steps. The anticipation was making his heart slam and his throat clench. He just _knew_ that whatever was behind that rock was going to impact his life in a way that would forever change the course of his life.

Great, like he needed more of that, because you know being drafted involuntarily into the life of a spy wasn't enough.

When he finally made it he tripped over a piece of drift wood that in his extreme concentration he hadn't noticed. He reached out to catch himself on the rock, and then blacked out.

_**What was behind the rock? Just dying to find out? Well then you are just going to have to wait until the next chapter. :]**_ _**R&R**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2:_

_The girl with wings_

Maximum Ride looked down on the boy that she had just decked. He was definitely not about to get up anytime soon. She bent down, grabbed him under his armpits, and dragged him behind the bolder that had been her cover. She started searching him for anything she could use to help fix the gaping gash in her side. Unfortunately all he was wearing were swim trunks and a t-shirt.

"Crap," she whispered under her breath. She pulled her hand away from her side, but then immediately put it back after the blood started to flow again. This was not good. She was injured and alone in a city that she knew nothing about, and she had no idea where the rest of the flock was even if she had a way of contacting them. She reached back and very slowly and painfully tucked her wings into her jacket so that he wouldn't see them when he woke up.

"Ugh," a moan came from the boy. She stared down at him; there was no way he should be waking up yet. She had punched grown men who hadn't woken up for hours. Who was this kid? Well if he could do that then there really wasn't much of a reason to knock him back out. Besides he might be able to help her.

"What happened?"His voice was soft and scratchy, and his light brown eyes took a second to focus, but when he saw her he jumped up and took what looked like a very practiced fighting stance. "Who are you? What do you want?" It was only then that she noticed the thick British accent.

"Max, what's your name?" She asked in an extremely exaggerated sarcastic pleasant voice.

His eyebrows drew together, and she could tell that he was a very cautious person. The kind that can only come from a life of trying to stay alive. A life very much like her own.

"Alex," he said it as if waiting for her to attack him. "I don't know who you are but I don't have anything to give you."

"Cool it. I didn't even ask you for anything, did I?" Just then the loss of blood, hours of flying and decking this Alex guy caught up with her. She sat down heavily leaning against the rock and did some deep breathing. Alex seemed to have just realized that she was hurt.

"Are you okay?" He asked seeming to suddenly forget that only moments ago she had been knocking his lights out. That's when she realized that this was definitely a good guy no matter how hard his life had been he was still the kind of person to help those in need.

"Does it look like I'm okay?"

"No, it looks like you should be in a hospital."

"NO!" Alex was taken aback by her sudden outburst. "No hospitals, been there done that, it always ends badly." By now even her voice was affected.

"Fine, then I'll take you to the place where I'm staying. They'll help you." He looked down only to realize that she had passed out. He picked her up noticing how unusually light she was despite her height.

He carried her as far as the street, pulled out his new cell phone that all of his friends had pitched in to get him so that he could talk to them even while he was "sick". He called a taxi, and then Sabina explaining what had happened and to tell her to meet him back at her house.

When they got there Mrs. Pleasure, and Jack were waiting at the door ready to help. Apparently Sabina had called ahead to warn them.

Alex put Max on the couch and started to lift up her shirt so he could see the wound when a hand darted out to stop him. He looked up annoyed at Jack only to realize that, oh yeah Max is a girl.

He left Max in the hands of the girls and went to wait in the kitchen. He paced wondering who that girl was, how she had ended up like that, and how she could have packed a punch that powerful when she weighed so little and was so injured. He ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair and sighed heavily. He would just have to wait to find out.

"Alex, we need a doctor this is way too serious for us to deal with on our own." Mrs. Pleasure's voice came from the other side of the door separating the living area and the kitchen.

"We can't go to a doctor. She said she couldn't, something about it ending badly." He leaned against a wall. "Look, I know a thing or two about secrets and this girl has some. We can't betray her trust."

Sabina's head popped through the door. "What are you talking about? You haven't even known her an hour and yet you act like you've known her your whole life." The confused look on her face reflected his exact feelings. He had no idea why he was being so protective either.

"I don't know I just have this strange feeling that I was meant to help her." He sighed again and closed his eyes how had this day gone so wrong. His eyes snapped open. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket again and looked through his address book. It had to be there, come on, come on. Yes! He selected a name and held the phone up to his ear. "I need your help…I'm in San Francisco…Great...Just a minute. Sabina tell me your address." He repeated it and then hung up, "Help is on the way."

Half an hour later a red Jeep pulled up in the driveway. Alex went out to greet the man who got out. "Thank goodness you made it Dr. Starbright." The doctor had the same red hair as his sister but that was pretty much the only resemblance. "She's right in here." He led Jack's brother into the house and showed him where Max lay still unconscious. Jack smiled weakly and gave her brother a quick hug.

"I'll take it from here please wait in another room." Everyone piled out of the room.

"How'd he get here so fast, I thought he was in New York?" Jack suddenly asked as if realizing it for the first time.

"He was actually in town for some kind of meeting or something. Incredibly convenient, huh?

They waited in the kitchen for another hour during which time Mr. Pleasure got home. They explained the situation to him and he went and peeked into the living room so he could see the mysterious Max for himself. "That's amazing, but then again this is Alex we're talking about." They all shared a timid laugh and then all went silent again.

"Alex, could you come here?" Dr. Starbright was kneeling beside the couch and when he looked up at Alex he knew that something was wrong. Alex walked over to the couch and looked down at her wound expecting to see something terrible, but everything looked in order. He began to ask what was wrong when he noticed it. There was a light brown _wing_ sticking out from behind her right shoulder.

Even though he had already suspected that there was something strange about her, _wings _just weren't exactly what he was thinking. "What in the…"

She stirred and mumbled something intelligible. Oh well, he thought, she's still a person.

"Hide it doctor, I don't want anyone else knowing about this." Dr. Starbright nodded and gently tucked it underneath her. He put her shirt back on, which made Alex just notice that she had only had on a bra a second ago which in turn made him blush and avert his eyes. "Thank you."

"No problem, I'm a doctor it's what I do." He gave Alex a smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax she's gonna be fine, she's young and it seems that she is an incredibly fast healer. She should be fine in a week at most."

"Alright, thanks again."

"Can we come out now?" Alex looked up and there was Sabina with her head through the door again.

"Yeah it's fine, just don't crowd her." The doctor advised.

"Would it be okay if I took her up to the guest room so she can be on a bed instead of this couch?" Alex asked.

"Yes, that would probably be for the best."

"Alright then, be back in a sec." Alex picked up Max's five foot eight frame and headed up the stairs. He set her down on the bed and took off her shoes knowing how annoying and uncomfortable shoes were in the bed. "Good night." He turned off the light and left the room.

When he got back downstairs everyone wanted to know the whole story so Alex told them most of it omitting the parts about wings and her knocking him out. He didn't want to look like a whus in front of Sabina.

"That's amazing Alex." They all stared at him in awe.

"I told you something would happen if I came here." He said pointedly at Sabina. "Well, at least it wasn't an earthquake, right?"

He and Sabina cracked up, as everyone else just looked on amused yet confused.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

_Stories_

As Max slowly awoke she took in her surroundings. She was in a bed, and it took her a minute to remember why. Oh yeah, that guy, Alex, he must have brought her here. She sat up slowly and was hit with extreme hunger pains. Well she was used to that. She felt her side to see the condition of her wound only to find that it was bandaged up. She stood up and found her shoes by the side of the bed.

_Wonder what time it is? _She thought as she pulled them on. There was a suitcase in the corner filled with some woman's things. So she was intruding, even better. As these things were going through her head she slowly came to the realization that she was in some stranger's house with a bandaged injury, which probably meant that someone knew about her wings and that despite everything she still didn't know anything about the whereabouts of her family, or her own for that matter.

"Oh, you're up. Good." Max spun around to find a girl about her own age, maybe a year older, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, standing there. "I brought you some food. Thought you might be hungry." The girl had the same accent as Alex, what was up with that? Was she in England again?

Max could smell the food in the girl's hands and her stomach growled. It smelled so good. There was some chicken and green beans and some fresh French bread. "I want to talk to Alex." No matter how good that food smelled she didn't trust this girl. She had no idea who she was.

"Alright, I'll go and get him." She turned and headed out the door.

"Wait," the girl turned back around, "I want to come too. I don't want to be cooped up in here."

"Are you sure you can walk?"

"Yes." Max said sharply. She didn't like that this girl thought she was weak like any other girl.

"Okay follow me." The girl picked up the tray of food and headed back out the door.

Max studied the house as she walked. It looked strangely bare as if whoever lived here hadn't done so for very long.

"I'm Sabina by the way. This is my house, my parents and I live here." The girl, Sabina, led her down some stairs and into a small living room. There were two men, two women, and Alex all standing around as if deep in discussion. They looked up as Max and Sabina came down and greeted them. Max was introduced to a man named Dr. Starbright and was told that he was the one who had stitched her up. That meant that this guy probably knew about her wings.

"Are you okay? You really shouldn't be up just yet, not with that kind of injury." The doctor sounded genuinely worried about her.

"I'm fine. I heal faster than most people, something to do with my blood." She said quickly. She didn't want these people asking questions. She was then introduced to everybody else. Once everything had settled down and Max was officially freaking out about all the people around she pulled Alex to the side. "I need to talk to you in private." She said and the tone of her voice told Alex that she meant now.

"Okay, follow me." He led her through the kitchen and into the backyard. Being outside made her feel tons better now if only she could have some food and water. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Where are we?"

He looked a little confuse but answered anyway. "San Francisco, California."

"Good, thanks. I only knew that I was somewhere on the Pacific coast. Now, who are you and why did you help me?"

"My name is Alex Rider, and I helped you because you needed help. What other reason did I need, and besides why are you asking me these things when I know nothing about you except that your name is Max and you have wings." Max tensed up, he knew, great now she had to get out of here, she started to leave but Alex grabbed her arm, "Wait, I'm not going to tell anyone." She didn't want to trust him but something in his voice told her she had to.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a complete slime ball who would sell you out for a few bucks, look I've had my own share of secrets and I know what hiding is like, but every now and then you have to trust someone, because no matter how strong you are sometimes you need help." Wow, this guy was actually making sense.

"Fine, I'll tell you how I ended up here if you tell me what your so called secrets are." She didn't like sounding like that but she wanted to know and she wasn't about to give up her secrets without something in return.

"Okay, I'll tell you, over the last year MI6 and the CIA have recruited me to be a spy in multiple missions."

She couldn't help it she let out a small snort of laughter. Was this guy serious? Did he honestly want her to believe that he was a spy? "Okay, you got me that was good."

"I wasn't joking." Alex kept his face perfectly straight, how dare a girl with _wings_ laugh at him when he tells her that he's a spy. "I really am a spy."

"Really?" She asked still not completely believing him. "I mean you have to forgive me for laughing when a guy who I knocked out with one punch tells me he's a spy." She didn't bring up the fact that she was stronger than most grown men.

"Whatever. You believe what you want to, but you still owe me an explanation."

"Well, I am an avian/human hybrid, 98% human 2% bird. I was created in a place called the School along with other experiments. I ended up here after a fight with some nasty things that I think are new creations courtesy of the school. They were sort of like Erasers, which are human/wolf hybrids, except they had lizard DNA instead. I was trying to find my family when I was ambushed somewhere near Los Angeles."

"Your family?"

"Yeah, my brothers and sisters. They aren't really related to me, they were the other five avian/human hybrids and our talking dog with wings."

"Wow, and you laughed at me when I told you I was a spy. Well what happened to your family, why did you need to find them?"

"We were separated by a storm while we were heading back from Hawaii. We needed to get back without anyone knowing so we stowed away on a cargo ship. I ended up in the middle of the ocean all alone, so I don't know where they are, but if the school can find me its more than likely that they can find them too." Max looked up at Alex too see an amazed expression on his face.

"And I thought my life was hard." Max laughed.

"So are you in the habit of letting guests starve or are you going to let me get that food that you're girlfriend already tried to give me?"

"She's not my girlfriend…" he muttered.

"But you want her to be," Max finished for him and headed inside not giving him a chance to protest.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4:_

_News_

Fang looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, and with the poor lighting of the night he had to use his raptor vision to read the coordinates again. He tipped a few of his flight feathers to adjust his course. According to the coordinates Nudge had gotten from the School's network Max should be somewhere in San Francisco. He hoped he would find her soon, Itex had captured everyone except him and he had only barely escaped using his ability to go almost completely invisible.

He and the rest of the flock had been flying to San Francisco to get Max when out of nowhere they were attacked by half-men-half-lizard things that Gazzy had aptly named Lizard Skins, (where did this kid come up with these things?). Everyone else was dragged off to some lab, where undoubtedly they were having some horrendous testing done on them, if they were still alive at all. Once he knew where they were he knew he would need Max to help get them out of there.

He used a GPS that he had stolen off of some rich jerk to get to the exact latitude and longitude of the last place Max had been. "Yes!" he hissed under his breath as the GPS made a little beeping noise telling him that he had reached his desired destination. He looked down to find himself in a relatively normal looking neighborhood.

Of course, it was just like Max to get herself mixed up with some innocent family that has nothing to do with anything. Last time this had happened she had found her mother.

He silently angled himself towards the ground and dived into the backyard. He landed with ease, and with well practiced movements, he quickly tucked his midnight black wings into his jacket. He crept up to a window and peeked in to see if anyone was up. He didn't see anyone so, wishing Iggy were there, he pulled his had back and smashed a corner window, wincing at the noise and the pain it caused. He paused and listened to see if anyone was alerted before he reached in and unlocked the door.

Alex woke up, and looked around. He didn't see anyone but knew that someone was in the house that didn't belong. He didn't know what had woken him but knew that it probably wasn't anything good. He sat up slowly, begging the couch not to creak and walked over to the wall where the light switch was. Some people would probably think it unwise to turn on the light and give the intruder light to see by but if Alex couldn't see he wouldn't be able to do anything.

He slapped the light on and quickly scanned the room looking for anyone or anything out of place, but then had an extreme case of déjà vu as he suddenly blacked out…again.

Fang had known that there was someone downstairs, when he had heard breathing. He had known that that someone was awake and aware when the breathing stopped as if not to alert anyone that he was there. _Idiot_.

Fang headed to the stairs, after turning the light back off, hoping that he would find Max somewhere up there. He stopped and listened at each door for Max's breathing. He found it when he got to a room at the end of the hallway.

He opened the door as quietly as he could and was immediately whacked in the back of the head as he stepped in. "Ow!" he said in an exaggerated stage whisper.

"Fang!" impulsively Max pulled him into a hug until she realized what she was doing and then she pushed him away and punched him in the shoulder. "You scared the crud outta me! What are you doing breaking in here like this!?" She punched him on the shoulder one more time for emphasis.

"Will you quit that!? It hurts." He said rubbing his shoulder, even though Max knew that he was tougher than that.

"Aww, poor baby. Now quit acting stupid and answer my question." Max let some steel into her voice so he would know she was serious.

"I came to get you." He said now suddenly more like himself, "Itex captured the flock, I barely got away to tell you." Max looked up in surprise. Itex had the flock. This was her worst nightmare, it was what she had most feared after they had gotten split up.

"We have to go, _now_." Max said and she turned around and grabbed her freshly washed clothes off a chair that was in the corner. She brushed past Fang and headed to the bathroom to change.

When she finished they headed downstairs. That was when Max saw Alex lying on the floor, out cold. "Fang what did you do to him?" she asked as she bent over to check on him.

"Relax he's fine, just unconscious, he heard me come in and I didn't want him to alert anyone. Why is he your newest Sam?" he asked referring to the boy that had asked Max out in their brief attempt at school. He would never admit it but he was still a little jealous of any other guy getting to be around Max when he wasn't.

"No, he's just the person who saved me when I was hurt." She said hating to admit, especially to Fang that she had needed saving. She looked down when Alex stirred.

"Whoa, déjà vu." He said at an attempt to lighten the mood.

"You okay?" asked Max. Alex looked up at her and nodded.

"I thought I heard someone in the house and when I got up to check it out everything sort of went blank."

"That would be my fault," Alex looked up to find a very tall boy about his own age, with long black hair and all black clothes, standing behind Max. It startled him that he hadn't noticed him before. "I perceived you as a threat and knocked you out. It's a knee-jerk reaction after all the times of getting attacked."

"Its fine, I guess. Who are you?" Alex asked feeling confused and disoriented.

"That's Fang, a member of my flock." Max explained as she helped him up. "Fang, this is Alex Rider, and yes I noticed so don't bring it up." She commented about the name similarity. (You know, Maximum Ride, Alex Rider). "He came to get me. I need to go. Sorry for the intrusion, thank you for the hospitality, etc. etc. Bye" She grabbed her backpack from beside the door and started to leave.

"Wait!" she spun around and gave Alex a questioning look. "I'm coming too."

Max stared at him for a second stunned. Was he serious? "Are you serious? You would just be in the way, you can't fly, I don't know how well you can fight or if you'd be able to hold up against genetically modified mutants, you are definitely not coming."

Half an hour later the whole house was up, everyone was saying goodbye and after Jack tried unsuccessfully to convince Alex not to go they left. Since Alex couldn't fly the Pleasures gave them their extra car. Before the break Smithers had supplied him with a card that could be programmed to look like any card he needed, in this case a driver's license, "just in case."

After Fang told him the direction he was going Alex started the car. And here begins a journey, unlike any other.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Finally! My hard drive crashed so this is about the third time I'm writing this chapter. So You Better Like It! R&R Plz! ;)**_

_Chapter 5:_

_Car trouble_

"Are we there yet?" Max whined from the passenger seat.

"We've been in the car for less than an hour, of course we're not there yet." Alex sighed with exasperation, for some reason Max had decided to annoy the heck out of him.

"If we were flying we'd be twice this far!" Max threw her hands up in the air and a soft chuckle came from the back seat. Max looked behind her and smirked. Fang practically never smiled so it was extremely rare to here a laugh.

Alex just rolled his eyes, two in the morning was way too early for this kind of harassment, "We're on Interstate Five and should be in L.A. in about six hours, and that means we can stop in Monterey for breakfast." Alex explained, trying to make the atmosphere a little more serious.

"Do you have any money, 'cuz we sure don't." Max asked thinking of how much food it would take to satisfy her and Fang.

"Yes actually, about two hundred dollars. Jack thought I might need some money so she shoved it in my hand as we left."

Max just nodded looking unimpressed and asked, "Will that be enough?"

"For now. It will get us pretty far, but with the combined costs of food and gas it might only last for a few hundred miles. We'll have to find a new source of cash soon." Alex said and looked down at his speedometer. He was at seventy mph so he was fine.

"How many more h-" Max was cut off by a loud pop and then some smoke coming from the engine. That wasn't good. Alex got off the interstate at the first exit and pulled over.

They all piled out and Alex lifted the hood, careful not to burn his hands on the hot metal. They stared at the engine for a few minutes then Fang decided it was about time to speak, "Well I don't know a hell of a lot about cars but that engine looks broke." Always the articulate one.

"This is not good we're not even an eighth of the way there and already we're having my kind of luck," Max says slamming her fist on the hood of the car. "We need to find another car STAT. Alex, you stay here and get our stuff out of the car, while Fang and I go looking around. We'll be back in twenty minutes tops." She gave Alex a curt nod and took off.

Fang just looked at him, gave him a small smile and a mock salute, and away he went.

Max and Fang had located a car in five minutes. It was some rich person's car that had been left in front of their house with the keys in the ignition.

_Either this person really trusts their neighborhood, or they're just plain stupid. _Max thought as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

Alex used his alone time to reflect on the events of the last fifteen hours. He still couldn't believe that his perfect holiday had been turned upside down.

Max had been gone only fifteen minutes when a silver Volvo pulled up beside him pulling him out of his reverie. There was a soft electronic whir as the passenger side window rolled down.

"Get in," Fang said and rolled the window back up without waiting for a response.

Alex climbed into the backseat. Max was driving, and Alex wasn't sure that was such a good idea.

"Where did you find this car?" asked Alex, already suspecting the answer.

"It was sitting in a driveway in front of some mansion with the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition, so we decided the owner must want to donate it to a cause, and since we were in need we took it." Max said with a finality that was hard to argue with.

Even though Alex normally would protest grand theft auto he decided Max's logic wasn't too off. He told Max his original route and they were on their way again.

_**I know its short but I just wanted to get this chapter over with, because I couldn't think of where to go. **_

_**If anyone has any suggestions send them, I need help. Most of my stories don't make it past the first few chapters so if you want this to have a conclusion REVIEW! **_

_**Thnx**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I was so lost on how to start this, but here it is finally! I would like to thank my wonderful cousin Erin for giving me the jump start I needed for this chapter. So THANK YOU, ERIN! :D (By the way celeryrules that wasn't Jack it was her doctor brother)**_

_Chapter 6:_

_Here we go…_

Alex stared at the desolate highway in front of him, focused on steering away from irregularities and blemishes in the black tar. There wasn't much else to put his eyes on anyway. The road was absolutely deserted this early in the morning, it was actually rather calming. Not exactly a good thing when you're half asleep already. The calmness reminded him of all the times he wished his life was just a bit less exciting. His head drooped and his eyes closed for half a second, the car swerved and he quickly corrected sitting a bit straighter so as not to encourage is body to shut down on him like that again. It had been a long night and he had only slept three hours before Fang had shown up at the Pleasures insisting that they leave right away. Okay so that wasn't exactly true and Max had tried to make him stay…

He lost his train of thought when a sign announcing his arrival to Monterrey passed by. Finally, his entire body felt ten times heavier than usual and his eyes could barely stay focused on the road ahead. He hated being sleep deprived, it always left him feeling as if the entire world were moving too slow and his mind even slower.

He wished Fang or Max had driven for a little while longer, but when he glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled at the sight that met his eyes. Fang and Max were asleep in the back and Fangs arms were wrapped around her protectively, almost as if even in his sleep he wanted nothing more than to kill anyone who would even think of hurting her. With the morning light streaming in through the windows Max's blondish hair shone giving off a halo that surrounded the couple in an almost angelic light. But Alex could tell that they were both tense and ready to jump into action at any moment, he could empathize and felt sorry for them. He knew what it was like to be so young and yet have so many worries, and yet he also knew that they had way more than him. They had to worry about six other family members all at the same time.

He glanced back one last time, to see Fang looking right back at him. Only a little creepy. Then again he had looked first.

"'Morning," Alex greeted with a slight nod.

"Hey," Fang replied sounding a little distracted. Alex looked back again and immediately looked back at the road a little embarrassed. Fang had been staring at Max in such an intimate way that Alex felt as if he were intruding on something much worse.

"How much longer until we get some food, I'm starving?" Fang asked rubbing his stomach that suddenly decided now was a good time to start talking.

"Soon," Alex said wondering how Max was still asleep, what with all his swerving and Fang's digestive tract bellowing. "We just entered the Monterey city limits I was just looking for any signs."

"Keep going straight and you'll get to one soon," Fang said cryptically.

"Okay," Alex said his brain a little on the obscure side. He tried to stay relatively quiet, not wanting to wake Max.

About half an hour later he pulled into a breakfast diner on the side of the road in Monterey.

"So how'd you know this was here?" Alex inquired.

"Bird of prey eyesight," he explained briefly.

Alex nodded and opened his door he stepped out with a groan stretching his stiff legs. Sitting still for hours was amazingly painful considering you weren't really doing anything.

Max woke up after Fang nudged her a couple times. Despite her tenseness she seemed to take an amazingly long time waking up. He guessed it probably had something to do with the fact that she was still healing from the huge gash in her side. It had been pretty grotesque.

The unlikely trio walked into the diner and sat at a table. While the bird kids ordered the heart attack special, Alex made sure to order coffee and something with lots of sugar to get his energy back up. He ended up with a huge stack of pancakes and some sausage. Alex watched, simply amazed at how they packed away their own pancakes, burgers, sausage, bacon, toast, eggs and each had at least four glasses of soda, and five of milk. And the whole time neither one of them relaxed their gazed off of the doors and windows.

Alex took the time to size up each customer and employee in the building, from the small family with a little girl that had brown hair and dimples, to the big trucker guy who sat at the bar with a mug of coffee in his hand. He took in the blue and white checkered floor tiles, the greasy counter tops and the hideous waitress uniforms. All in all just your average run of the mill roadside diner.

When everyone finished he counted the wad of bills that Jack had given him, after the meal and money for gas they were running out fast. They sat back and waited for their monstrous feast to digest at bit before they went anywhere, when everything went wrong.

Alex knew something was about to happen when his skin began to prickle and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He'd learned to trust his instincts a long time ago so when he looked expecting the worst he saw an alarmed look on Max's face and heard her barely audible whisper, "Lizard Skins!"


	7. Chapter 7

_**Dangit, I did it again! Sorry. (Thank you again Erin you're a lifesaver)**_

_A little morning workout..._

"Lizard Skins..."

As soon as the words left her lips all three kids jumped up in unison, ready for action. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Alex slams his knee into the underside of the table, causing him to double over in pain, his head ducking just in time for him to feel something graze lightly over his head. He shoots up and spins around grabbing his dirtied plate from the table as he went. He felt the plate shatter against the mutants hard scaly scalp.

Well that didn't do much good. At this point all of the small restraunt's customers were screaming and running outside only to meet more of the frightning lizard people piling out of the increadibly cliched black SUVs. As they came rushing in the door Fang leaped up on the table and spread his midnight black wings out to their full fourteen foot span, leaping off the table he body slammed into the first row of lizard men.

As Fang did his usual thing, Max was kicking her fair share of butt as well in her own ferocious manner. The tiny place was being ripped apart as the trio battled for their lives against about two dozen Lizard Skins.

Alex was using a metal chair to defend himself against a towering mutant who thankfully didn't have a weapon, but he was doing little damage against the iron armor of genetically modified scales and the lizards intimidating strength. Alex jumped behind the counter and headed back into the kitchen to try and find a better weapon. The lizard followed close behind and ripped a huge chunk out of the marble countertop and hurled it through the air at Alex. He hit the floor as the slab of rock and wood sailed over his head and punched a hole through the back wall. Alex leaped up as the lizard moved with suprising speed towards him. It was then that it occured to him that lizards are cold blooded. Perfect.

Executing a perfect tackle that even the best of the profesional American football players would have been proud of, he drove his captive through the door to the walk-in freezer and crashed into a tall pile of wooden crates filled with produce and meat. The battle raged on.

He was right, the hybrid was getting slower and slower as they fought in freezing cold. Alex was losing feeling in his extremities, and had to fight to keep his concentration so that his blows would land in the planned points. Alex long since found the softest points on the body that one could hit with out breaking their knuckles. Throwing one last punch towards the lizard's face as the mutant went reeling back before collapsing on the floor, he landed with a thud. He layed unmoving on the frozen steel floor, too weak to fight anymore.

Alex spun around to find five more lizards blocking the doorway, guns at the ready. Glancing this way and that he didn't really see a way around them, then he looked up. Smiling he jumped and grabbed hold of an iron pipe and swung himself back and forth, dodging the few shots fired, and giving one hybrid a good kick in his jaw before building up enough momentum to fling himself over the heads of the mutant lizards.

The startled lizards were given no chance as Alex slammed the door of the freezer shut behind him. He heard a hard pounding at the door as the hybrids tried to break down the heavy steel door, but the blows grew fainter and fainter until they were silenced. Well, that was about six down. And judging by the look of things as he hurried back to the front dining area. Max and Fang had taken care of a good number of the enemies, leaving only about half the original number.

He searched for the A.C. control and when he found it he quickly turned it all the way up, so the cold air came pouring out at full blast. Around dozen lizard men were still standing until a shockwave swept throught the restaraunt followed by a wall of sound that nearly blew out Alex's eardrums.

Fang had found a mini Big Boy that he forgot that he had confiscated from Iggy which had now had left a gaping hole in the side of the restraunt.

Now there were only eight. Fang grabbed the nearest Lizard Skin and dragged him into the sky ready to drop him, while Max dove to the ground sweeping her feet around slamming her heels into one of the hybrid's chest before landing firmly on her feet pulling her arm back and smashing his face in.

"Take that you stupid lizard. Don't... mess... with my... flock!" she said pucuating every word with another blow. Her focus was interupted as she heard a blaring honk come from the parkinglot, before seeing one of the SUVs come crashing through the front of the diner and crushing the remaining lizards.

'What the-?" she started but then saw Alex stick his head out of the front window of the car and honk the horn once more.

"Need a lift?" he called.

Fang dropped down next to her, "Lets get out of here."

"Agreed."


	8. Chapter 8

_**I'm so sorry for the delay; I've had a busy summer so far. I've worked really hard on this so I hope it'll hold you over until the next chapter. R&R, you know my opinion on that.**_

_Chapter 8:_

_Captured_

They sped out of the diner's parking lot and didn't slow down until the diner had been out of sight for more than an hour.

"Well, that was fun," Max commented from the back seat, a sly grin spreading over her face. "At least now we know that Alex can take care of himself."

"I guess we really pummeled them, because we're not being followed," Alex said glancing in the rearview mirrors. Max watched as his expression changed from relief to surprise to anger. It was then that she heard the distant _thwip, thwip, thwip_ of a helicopter's rotors.

"Not even a chance to rest," Max sighed as she tried to balance when Alex jerked the wheel to the right, and sped off the road. He slammed on the breaks and got out.

"I am tired of these guys! I'm dealing with them once and for all." Max and Fang looked at each other with raised eyebrows; this was a side of him they hadn't seen.

They watched as Alex opened the trunk of the car and pulled out his backpack. He yanked it open and pulled out an average sized orange Frisbee.

"What's up with the toy?" Fang asked completely at a loss.

"You'll see," Alex said. He pulled back his arm and aimed with an accuracy that came from years of practicing martial arts. With one fluid motion he threw his entire body weight forward, uncurled his arm and let the disc fly.

All six eyes followed as it cut a path through the air, straight for the helicopter, and they were still watching when the Frisbee tapped against the metal side of the vehicle, expecting that to be the end of it, when they were hit with a shock wave that was completely, well…shocking.

Alex ducked and covered his head, and Fang grabbed Max and protected her with his body. Not that she completely wanted his help, and not that she was completely opposed to his nearness either.

They stood up as soon as the debris stopped flying and looked around. "That was surprising. Who knew you could get so many explosives packed into a Frisbee?" Max's comment made Fang crack one of his rare smiles.

The helicopter's burnt shell came crashing to the ground landing right in the middle of the road with the very disturbing sound of metal on asphalt that made all three of the kids cringe. Figuring that was the end of it, the trio straightened and headed back to the car, only to stop again as the piercing sound of metal being torn reached their ears.

They turned back around dreading what they were going to find, only to have their worst fears come alive. A lizard hybrid pulled itself up into the sunlight with little effort, suggesting that the damage done was minimal.

A few more of the freakish lizard men followed out behind the first crawling through the ragged hole in the roof of the helicopter as if it were an egg hatching freakish hybrid babies. One by one, they leaped through the flames landing on the asphalt with heavy earthshaking thuds.

Alex stared in disbelief, how could they still be alive? Smithers had packed enough explosives in that Frisbee to take out a small building. He shrugged_, Guess that's the perks of genetic mutation, virtual indestructibility. _

Only three had survived and they were now menacingly making their way towards the group of teens. Max didn't waste any time, she launched herself into the air and came streaking back using her unique hyper speed. She knocked the nearest lizard back into the burning wreckage where his clothes immediately set aflame; the mutant itself with his scaly skin was barely harmed.

Fang tackled the next leaving Alex his own hybrid to attempt to defeat in a devastating, yet clever manner. Alex ducked and threw punches, but mostly ducked. There were no convenient walk-in freezers here, so no repeats. He glanced back at the forest that was off to one side of the road and an idea started form in his mind.

Without another thought Alex turned tail and ran into the woods, the hybrid stood there confused for a moment before following him. The mutant moved with a grace of an animal over the foliage infested ground, but Alex's head start was just enough to keep the distance he needed between them.

Soon the Lizard man had to stop and search for the sandy-headed teen that he had just lost sight of. He sniffed the air his poison green reptilian eyes scanned the calm, tranquil woods. That tranquility was broken when a small explosion resounded through the area followed by a large _crack!_

The mutant shifted to fighting stance glancing wildly around for the source of the sound, failing to notice the tree about to topple on top of him. By the time he looked up it was too late, the unnatural lizard was crushed beneath a giant oak. The Lizard man's face could be seen along with one large scaly arm that stuck out from beneath the bark-covered trunk of the tree, it trembled and lifted for a moment reaching toward Alex then fell to the ground crushing the dead leaves that littered the forest floor with a crunch.

Alex stepped out from his hiding place, and tossed a small detonation remote in the air caught it and slipped it into his pocket. He glanced at the tree before turning around to retrace his steps back to the road. Nearing the edge of the woods he called out to Max and Fang, figuring that they had already taken care of their adversaries just as effectively.

"You'd think evil geniuses would have created better soldiers than these idiots," he scoffed.

His small smile instantly dissolved as he stepped out of the thick fringe of trees. Three more were standing around the burning helicopter weapons pointed at the unmoving forms of Max and Fang, troops of lizard men were sweeping the area machine guns at the ready, and even more choppers where hovering about in the air, spraying dust and leaves around the site. Every pair of eyes locked on Alex where he stood, as his own locked upon Max and Fang who lay sprawled on the pavement.

Suddenly out of the trees a group of hulking lizards snuck op behind him, one grabbing him around the throat almost yanking him off the ground. Alex gasped for air, pulling and grasping at the arm of hard muscle, but it was futile, no matter how much smarter than them he was he wasn't stronger.

The last thought Alex had, as a hard blow came crashing to his head, was that the first helicopter was the bait. _We fell for it. It was all a trap_.

His vision clouded at the edges, tunneling around Max and Fang with a finality that was somehow prophetic.


	9. Chapter 9

_**I wrote most of this during school, I was bored. R&R!**_

_Chapter 9:_

_Title_

Alex woke, and he hated himself for it. He had been dreaming. Dreaming of warm summer days horseback riding around the grounds of Sabina's home back in England, and of all the days they had spent lying on the fine white sand of the Californian beaches together and surfing in the Pacific. At one point he had been dreaming of the feel of the soft beach towel beneath him and the feel of the sun heating his skin to a comfortable degree, when a soft breeze began to blow raising goose bumps all over his body. He shivered and crossed his arms over his chest, as the wind got faster and colder. He searched for Sabina, so that they could leave and get out of the suddenly cold weather. He scanned the shoreline for her dark hair and slim figure, but as his eyes roved the area the scenery started to change, suddenly a thick fog rose up, the wind became still, and snow started to fall around him, he tried to cover himself as much as possible, seeing as he was still in his swim trunks and nothing else. Tall thin shapes began to appear around him, it took him a moment before he identified the shapes as trees. He wondered how he ended up in a forest when he heard his name being called, in the distance. He watched as a person began to appear out of the fog, this person was shaped strangely, with something protruding out of their back. Once the person was closer and clearer he realized that the strange protrusions were wings.

"Alex," the person's voice held a dreamlike quality, it echoed slightly, "Alex," again the voice called but this time it was as if the fog that had been around him had actually been in his ears and now it was slowly fading away, "ALEX!" That he heard clearly enough.

And that was when he woke to the sound of Max calling his name. "More like screaming," he mumbled to himself.

Now he knew why there had been snow in the dream, he was lying flat on his back on the bottom of what appeared to be a big dog kennel. The kennel was made completely of metal and the air conditioning seemed to be working to make his dream come true. "Ugh," he moaned as he slowly sat up feeling his muscles creek and complain as he moved. "Where are we?" He didn't ask what happened because he remembered that clearly enough.

"We're in the School, where else?" Max's voice was sarcastic and tired all at the same time.

"Where?" Alex asked. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place it.

"My place of birth, remember, the_ evil_ place where the _evil _Whitecoats work doing _evil_ things to innocent children and animals." Max put stress on all of the evils she used and her face gained more and more hate with each one.

"I take it you don't like this place?"

"Did you_ not_ hear how many times I used the word _evil?_"

"Sorry, my heads still a bit fuzzy, we can't all have super healing powers."

"Well forgive me for being genetically mutated as an infant!" Max was a little touchy being in the place of all her childhood trauma.

They both quieted when a door on the other side of the room opened. Two buff guys in scrubs lumbered in dragging a bloodied and unconscious Fang between them.

"Fang!" Max jumped forward and grabbed the bars on the far side of the cage. "What did you do to him?" she demanded with her famous steel edge in her voice.

The grunts just ignored her as they threw Fang into his own cage across the room, locked it and slammed the door shut behind them as they left.

"Fang," Max whispered the earlier steel replaced by worry. _"Fang,"_ she said more forcefully, she seemed to be trying to get as close to him as possible with her face smashed into the bars.

"Max, he's fine-"

"_Fine!"_

"Well not fine, but he's breathing, look." Alex pointed and Max looked back at Fang.

They both shut up then and just sat waiting for Fang to wake up, listening to his labored breathing. Not long after Fang was brought back the door opened again. The same two orderlies walked in but this time the person with them was wearing a white coat and had that evil scientist vibe that was the norm in this place.

"Hello children," he said, "Sleep well?"

"Ha," Max laughed sarcastically, looked up at the scientist and said, "Like a freakin' baby, and you?"

"Well actually no, I didn't, I was up all night thinking of all the things I'd like try with you and all the things we could use your friend here for." He said gesturing to Alex.

"I don't know he's a little too _normal_ for your usual taste, are you sure you don't want to infuse him with rabbit genes or something first?" Max said in the tone she usually used when addressing adults.

"Now then, you don't have to be so bitter, we were just thinking about using him as a control in experiments instead of just relying of general knowledge like we usually do. How could we pass up such a rare opportunity? A perfectly healthy test subject delivered to our door." His smile seemed almost lustful when he looked at Alex.

"Oh my God, why don't you just make out with him and get it over with." The comment came from the cage that held Fang.

"Fang!" Max's attention moved from the scientist back to her dearest friend across the room. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I don't think anything's broken anyway." Fang's reply was a bit muffled from the blood that was still in his mouth. He spit out through the front of the kennel and leaned on the side of the cage, "You?"

"Yeah, we're both fine." Max replied the relief in her voice evident.

"Excuse me, are you done?" The scientist seemed a bit annoyed that his little rats were ignoring him.

"Sure, why did you have something to contribute?" Alex asked.

"Actually I was going to bring just you but now I think I'll bring the girl as well."

"I have a name you know." Max said glaring at the man outside her cage.

"Do you? That's strange we don't normally name our test subjects." He said with a mocking tone. He snapped his fingers and the two orderlies came around, unlocked Max's and Alex's cages, reached in and dragged them out.

"Let's get started." Fang watched as they were dragged out of the room, and when the door slammed shut behind them leaving Fang alone with only the sound of his own breathing and a lot of time to imagine what was happening to the girl he loved.


End file.
